College football may be the most popular sport at American universities, but college basketball isn't far behind. In fact, at some schools throughout the country it is a much more significant part of campus athletics than their gridiron counterparts. College hoops is also a very popular betting sport at sports books in Nevada and offshore. It's popular among recreational players and professionals alike—in fact, its considered a favorite sport of 'wise guy' professional bettors who take advantage of the large number of teams posted on the betting board. The thinking is that linemakers are under pressure to post numbers on hundreds of games during the busiest part of the season and that lower profile programs often fly 'under the radar' and produce strong value betting opportunities.

Betting on college basketball is similar to NBA basketball, though due to the disparity in the talent level of college teams you'll see much higher pointspreads in college than in the pros. You'll also see over/under totals posted on some college basketball games—historically, sports books have posted college totals only on televised games but that convention is being ignored by some offshore books who post them on every major college contest.

The annual NCAA men’s basketball tournament, otherwise known as ‘March Madness’ is one of the most most important events of the year for bookmakers. In the United States, only the Super Bowl generates more wagering interest and it rivals the biggest betting event in the world, the Champions League soccer final. 68 college basketball teams are selected to play in the event every year, with the lowest seeds competing in a ‘play in game’ for the right to advance to the main bracket. The tournament has grown in size and stature over the past several decades and the size of the field has increased as well. From 32 teams in the mid 1970’s, the field was gradually enlarged from 48 teams in the early 1980’s to 64 teams in the middle of the decade. The 65th team and the ‘play in’ game was added in 2001 and the latest increase came in 2010. 30 teams receive automatic bids for winning their respective conference titles, with the remaining 38 ‘at large’ bids selected by the NCAA. There has been talk in recent years of expanding the field even further,.

In addition to formal betting on the game with Las Vegas and offshore sports books, NCAA tournament office pools are extremely popular in businesses and organizations of every size. With 18.4 quintillion possible combinations for winners in the 65 team field, this makes the odds against picking a correct bracket at random substantially greater than being fatally injured in a lightning strike (2.3 million to 1) or becoming an astronaut (13.2 million to 1). Despite these overwhelming odds against producing a correct bracket, players anxiously fill out their entries every year with many sportsbooks and other companies offering multi-million dollar jackpots for the ever elusive 'perfect bracket'.

Whether you're betting on college basketball in Nevada or offshore, you'll find a decent selection of college basketball games at virtually every online betting website. The best books not only offer more types of wagers on individual games including totals, halftime betting and alternate pointspreads but the top sports books offer a wider range of teams including the so called 'added board' and 'extra board' games involving smaller colleges to their betting menu. A working knowledge of small conference basketball teams can produce profits for the bettor during the regular season as well as 'March Madness' as its possible to find opportunities to bet underrated mid majors against bigger programs that are better known among recreational bettors and sports fans.